VIRGINIA BEACH — For the third straight year, the Cox wrestling team will rule the roost in Class 5.
Behind the strength of five individual champions, the Falcons put their stamp on the VHSL record book by dominating the middle weight classes to claim the team title Saturday at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
The final outcome was not decided on the first day. Great Bridge, with six wrestlers reaching the semifinals, was leading by as many as 14 points heading into the early stages of Day 2. Cox also had six semifinalists but relied on a greater number of wrestlers in the consolation bracket to catch the Wildcats.
Five of the Falcons’ semifinalists advanced to the championship round, and Cox won its five titles in a span of nine bouts, including three in a row. At 138 pounds, Landon Cahill won by fall at 1:31 over Deep Creek’s Issac Michalski. In the next bout, at 144, Caleb Rafal built up a 16-0 lead to earn a technical fall at 5:38 over Ian Ramsey of Riverbend.
The Falcons finished the trifecta at 150 pounds as Vicente Granada won a hard-fought 11-6 decision over Kellam’s Drake Shultz.
“We knew that Great Bridge was going to come at us,” Cox coach Dalton Head said. “”But we had a few more guns.”
Head’s point was proven two more times. At 165, Karl Ludwig scored a technical fall (24-8, 4:09) over Deep Creek’s Brady Ming, one of the Hornets’ two finalists. And at 190, Rudy Wagner earned his third state title with a fall at 1:13 over Jovanny Gonzales of William Fleming.
Cox’s Karl Ludwig wrestles Deep Creek’s Brady Ming on the way to the VHSL Class 5 state championship at 165 pounds at Virginia Beach Sports Center. PETER CASEY/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
For Wagner, the win had special meaning, which went beyond the team championship. “I finally got to beat my dad,” said the George Mason-bound senior. Wagner’s father, Bill, won state championships for Cox in 1985 and 1986 at the 167- and 176-pound classes.
Eleven wrestlers from Region A won their weight classes.
Great Bridge started off with wins in the first two bouts. Freshman Caiden Clark defeated previously unbeaten Arturo Luna of Maury
to win the 106-pound category. Vincent Von Bernewitz followed with a win by fall over Ocean Lakes’ Skiles Burkhead.
Another freshman, Matthew DeAngelo of Ocean Lakes, captured the 120-pound class with a 14-4 major decision over Blake Condino of Tallwood.
In an exciting final at 126, Condino’s teammate Colton Hepp jumped to a 6-0 lead, but needed a takedown in overtime to score an 11-8 win over Xavier Kovacs of Great Bridge.
At 157, in the longest match of the finals, Carmine McDaniel of Woodside and Brennan Loving of Deep Run tangled to a 4-4 draw in regulation and then followed with two scoreless overtime rounds. In the third OT, Loving escaped, took McDaniel down and scored another three points on a near-fall to win 11-4.
Derek Shultz won Kellam’s first title of the weekend, topping Riverside’s Ashton Hilton 13-10 in a flip-filled bout. Shultz’s escape and takedown to open the third period provided four points and the victory.
Patrick McMillan won the gold for Green Run, scoring a 16-8 major decision over Zion Baskerville of William Fleming. McMillan took a 6-1 lead in the first period and never looked back to win the 215-pound championship. It was the first title for a Stallions wrestler since Marcus Sanchez won the Group AAA 112-pound division in 1993.
Kellam was fourth with 97.5 points, followed by Ocean Lakes, who placed fifth with 92.
